Improvement in hay-foeks



C. S. AMBRUSTER.

Hay Fork.

' Patented Sept. 1, 1868.

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CHARLES S. AMBRUSTER, OF WOODSTOWN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO HIM- Y SELF AND CHARLES H. RICHMAN, SAME PL'AGE.

Letters Patent No. 81,726, dated September 1, 1868.

- IMPROVEMENT In HAY-FORKS.

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Be it known that I, GIIIARLES SJAMBRUSTER, of Woodstown, in the county of Salem, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and improyed Hay-Fork; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being bad to-the accompanying drawings, making apart of this specification, in which Figured is a side elevation,and Figure 2 a detached sectional view of the tripping-apparatus. The object ofthis invention is to provide a neat, cheap, and conve'nienthay-fork, by which the hay can be. grasped securely, and firmly held while being elevated, and can be instantly released when arriving at the place where it is desired to deposit it. g i Teaccomplish this object, I construct a fork having two curved tines,,t t, on each side, which unite at their upper extremity and form ashank or tang 5. One ofthe shanks thus formed, crosses, and is pivoted to the .other at Annim, a,is hingedto the uppernend ofeach shank, as seen at a, the upper ends of-the arm s i being hinged together to a plate, C. v

A rod, e, is hinged to the back of cachtine, as shown in fig l, and is'connectedat its upper end to a block or hook, L by means of a cord or chain, e. When it is desired to elevate the fork, the block]; is hooked to a hook, c, on the plate 0, and is 'raised by means of a rope, J. The whole draught of the rope J thus comes upon theplate 0, drawing it up, bringing the arms a a and the shanks s 8 together, and causing the tines to approach each other, and grasp the hay firmly between them while raisingit. When the hay has been raised to the pointwhere'it is to be discharge d, the operator pulls'upon a rope, -r, and disengages the block I from the plate C, taking the whole weight of the hay and fork from the plate 0, and throwing it upon the block. As the block is connected only to the back of the tines, and at some distance below the pivotp, as above described, it immediately draws them apart, and releases the hay from them. The fork is then lowered, t'ne'tines being still spread apart, and receives another load, after which the block is again connected to the plate G, and the load can be raised and discharged as before.

The apparatus by which the book 0 serves to hold the weight of the load ordinarily, and 'yet to release it and allow it to drop when the rope r is pulled, is clearly shown in fig. 2, and consists simply of a pivoted hook, c, a pivoted stop, in, catching in a notch in thclever-end of the hook and holding it firmly'inposition, a spring, 12, which presses the stop against the hook, and a trigger, 0, to which the rope 1' is attached, and which serves to -pull the stop outof the notch and thus release the hook. The whole apparatus is exceedingly simple and effective, holding the block I socurely until the rope is pulled, and then disengaging it instantaneously and allowing the weight of the load to spread the tines at once and discharge the hay. On account of its'extremo simplicity of constructionand operation, the instrument thus described is not liable to get out of order, but with ordinary care will last many years.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by'Letters Patent, is-

1. .The combination of plate C, book 0, stop m, spring 1t, trigger o, and rope or chain 7, substantially as and for the purpose described. i i

2. The comhinatioir'o f; the tripping-attachment, above described, with the arms a a, shanks s's, tines t t, block I, and connecting-cords, chains, or rods e e, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

To the above specification of my improvement I have signed my hand, this 9th day of July, 1868. r

' CHARLES S. AMBRUSTER.

" Witnesses:

Guns. A. Perrrr, Sonou O. Knnon. 

